Cavalier County High Point Trip Report

Date: May 6, 2002
Authors: Julie Kawa, Pat Wymore, Jobe Wymore

At the junction of ND1 and ND5 in the center of Langdon, North Dakota, set the odometer and head south on ND1.
Keep an eye out for the strange military pyramid-shaped building off to your left and at mile 12.3
you'll come to an intersection with CR26. Take a left here and head east. Shortly, you'll pass a cemetery
and right after, an unmarked road is off to your right, heading south into the town of Nekoma. Set the
odometer here and head south. Once you enter the town, the road you are on will be marked as Main Street.
Just keep heading south on "Main Street" through town and stay with it as it passes through and
eventually curves to your left and point' you eastward. At mile 3.6 you'll pass another cemetery to your right,
and at mile 4.1 an intersection with a Minimum Maintenance Road sign is reached. This is where the
field tromping begins.
At this point, we took a left heading north for 0.2 mile from where we pulled off to the side of the road and parked.
Immediately east of you is a distinct rise in the center of an unposted field, about 250 - 275 yards away.
This is the southern most area in Section 20. We trudged out to the area and then pointed ourselves
northward about 75 yards to another tiny bump which is area #2. From #2 we just kept on slogging through
the field towards the larger mound of high ground to the northeast, 200 yards farther away. This is a larger
area and requires a bit more stomping than the others that you have hit up to this point. The map shows a
4th area just north of the 3rd area and you can make it out all right. The thing is, it is obviously lower than
the last 3 you just nabbed. Regardless, we headed over and sure enough, it was lower. The northernmost
area in Section 20 doesn't need to be visited in my book. From area #4 we retraced our steps back to the
vehicle zigzagging here and there, making sure high ground was hit.
Once in the car again, keep heading northward for another 1.8 miles where you'll reach another intersection.
This intersection will have a lesser dirt road heading east and a pretty decent dirt road heading west.
Take a left and head west for 1 more mile until another intersection is reached. Here take a left and head south
toward the row of trees to your left. At 0.2 mile later park once again to the side of the road. Out to the
east through a field is another obvious bump, easy to pick out. We strode out to this bump, finding that part
of it has been quarried away. Still it appeared the highest ground was intact. Area #5 done in Section 18.
For the 6th area that is in Section 9, get back to that intersection you were previously at with the lesser dirt
road that west to the east. Once you're back there, set the odometer and head east on this lesser road.
It wouldn't hurt to have a little clearance on this one, especially after you come to another intersection a mile later.
Here take a left and head north on, at times, a pretty rutted road. Still should be able to be driven by
Andy Martin in his Accord though. We headed northward till the odometer read 1.7 and parked at the side of the road.
Off to your right/east is going to be a rise just off the side of the road. We got out and headed up.
Once on top, this contour extended east a bit and we followed it out in it's entirety, hitting the 3 minor
rises on it. It's roughly 150 yards long.
With only the 7th and final area remaining, we got back in the car and pointed it back southward.
Hitting the odometer one last time, head south for 1.7 miles until a T-intersection is reached. Take a left and head
east to mile 2.7 where another intersection is reached with a tower. Hang a right here, heading south, and at
mile 3.3 when the road started to loose a tiny bit of elevation, we pulled off and parked one last time.
At this point there will be a strip of hills/high ground extending westward. We got out and walked along the
south side of the hills for roughly 1/2 mile through unposted field, until we reached the highest, westernmost bump.
This county can get pretty tiring like most multiple area HPs. Like all farming areas, you will need to pick
the time of year you visit this once accordingly so you do interfere with planting season.